Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli Newbery Award Winner Book #2

 I love Jerry Spinelli! I have read several of his books before Maniac Magee, and I am big fan of his writing!  Jeffrey Magee became an orphan at age 3 after his parents were killed by a drunk driver.  Jeffrey was sent to live with his uncle and aunt, which he hated because of their hatred toward each other. After having enough of their arguing and fighting, Jeffrey ran away, and when I say "ran" I mean he literally ran away to the town of Two Mills which was 200 miles away. Even though Two Mills is close to his home of Bridgeport, PA all is not well in their community.  Hector Street was used as a divider for a racial war, whites lived in the West End and the blacks lived in the East End of town. Through his adventure in Two Mills, Jeffrey meets some friends in Amanda Beale and her African-American family, Earl Grayson a washed up minor league baseball pitcher, he becomes a legend by hitting home runs off John Mcnab, and stands up to Mars Bar the East End bully.  Through all of his adventures though, Jeffrey just really want to find out who he is, he wants to be loved and have a family, something his uncle and aunt could not do. I highly recommend this book to young readers, it reaches out to some tough issues like death, divorce, homelessness, and finding out who you are along the way.  This book addresses a lot of issues that our students go through on a daily basis, and even though it is sad, they have to deal with growing up along with surviving.  I really like how Spinelli wrote Jeffrey's character.  He took this troubled kid, and turned him into a success story, which unfortunately does not happen near enough. This story has a great message, and I truly believe it is a book that many students will like, and place on the "favorites" shelf.

My Name is America: The Journal of Wong Ming-Chong: A Chinese Minor by: Laurence Yep Author Book #2

This type of book is not normally my cup of tea, I am more of a romance type of gal, but the story was good and it was a very easy book to get through.  The story begins in 1851 in Tiger Rock, a small farming town in southern China.  Our character Wong Ming-Chung is a young boy, and his family is suffereing to make ends meat. His uncle Precious Stone has decided to travel to America to work in the mines because gold has been found!  His family thinks that he is crazy, and that he would never make it through the journey, however, he does and ends up sending money back home to his family.  However, the money comes with some consequence, he wants them to send Wong Ming to American to live with him.  The family is outraged, but feel they owe Presious Stone this much, and agree to send their youngest son.  The journey to American is tough, Wong Ming sees lots of disease and death, but he mnages to make a few friends and survives the journey.  Once in Amercia he met up with his uncle to begin mining.   Wong Ming had to grow up very quickly, and without telling to much about the book, he felt racism from the American people and the Chinese were blamed for a lot of the problems they were having with overcrowding, as well as economics.  The Americans wanted the Chinese out, and they wanted their gold for themselves which sends Wong Ming on a dangerous journey.  This story's theme goes very well for this age group because it teaches them that greed will do nothing, but bring bad things to your life.  It is a very powerful emotion, and most of the time causes you to do things that you regret later, or causes your downfall.  Even though Wong Ming ends up back in China, he learned a very valuable lesson at a young age.  He learned that people are not always nice, and that to some people survivual will come at any cost!

Other Books By Laurence Yep:

Mountain Light
The Traitor
Sweetwater
The Ghost Fox
Tongues of Jade
The Butterfly Boy
Sea Glass

Cupid, Julius Lester

I was a little apprehensive when I first picked up this novel, however, I am glad that I did.  Even though it would probably not be a book that I read twice, I have to say that the spin on Roman mythology and their Gods and Goddesses was very creative.  In the end, the stories theme is about love.  Cupid, the son of Venus falls in love with a mere mortal, and not just any mortal, but a mortal that is said to be more beautiful than Venus herself.  Venus sends her son Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with an ugly monster, but fate has a different plan and Cupid falls deeply in love with Psyche.  Disobeying his mother Cupid sets into motion a plan to marry the mortal and try to keep her safe from his mother.  However, as most plans do Cupid's backfires, and it becomes a game of cat and mouse between Venus and Psyche.  Without giving to much away about the end of the story, this is the beginning of when love and soul come together to create pleasure in one's life.  This story was very creatively put together, and I really liked the ending, but for a middle school audience which this book geared toward, I thought it was kind slow getting started.  Most kids that I teach have to be hooked on a book within the first ten pages, if not fewer of the book to be interested.  However, once the story goes on, the plot thickens and it does move quicker.

Some other books by this author are:

What A Truly Cool World
To Be A Slave
Do Lord Remember
Long Journey Home
The Hungry Ghost

Holes, by Louis Sachar Movie Book #3

I have to say that even though I have seen this book several times in the library, and have heard my children discuss how great this book was,  I had never read it or watched the movie.  However, after reading the book this week and watching the movie with my daughter, I am sad that I didn't pick it up sooner! I think that Disney did very well making this book into a movie.  They stuck to the storyline very well, and minus missing a few small details the movie was great!  They acting was very good, and Shia Lebeouf is exactly what I pictured young Stanley to look like.  However, Stanley's character is so likeable, and you feel sorry for him because he is sent to Camp Green Lake so unjustly, but the way his and Zero's stories intertwine and break the "curse" is very well set-up.  I mean who would have ever thought that onions could save your life from lizards that guarded treasure!  This story may have a common theme in friendship, but Stanley and Zero's relationship is rare.  I love the fact that they go from enemies to saving each others lives, as well as ending a family feud they didn't even know existed.  I would definilty recommend this book to all 5th and 6th grade teachers, it is a loveable story, with likeable characters, a positive moral, and lots of adventure and mischeif along the way.  Not to mention, the movie is pretty good too!  I mean who couldn't love a character who last name is a palindrome of his first!

Jumanji, Chris Van Allsburg Movie Book #2

Even though I think the book is good, this is a case where I actually feel that the movie better represents the story.  However, I will give the story credit because it does stand as a solid plot with likeable characters, but I like the movie because the movie adds a lot more detail to the events surrounding the came, and the visual effects make the story come to life for the viewer.  The movie also changes some of the book by adding the character of Allan Parish and his friend Sarah Wittle, the Officer and other characters.  They also change the beginning of the book by making Peter and Judy live with their aunt because their mother and father had passed.  However, I think the thing I like the most about the movie is that the creatures of Jumanji come to life and cause havoc in the city, not just inside Peter and Judy's house. Most of the time, I do enjoy the book more, but in this case I have to say that the extra details that the movie adds helps the reader make a connection to the characters and their dilemmas. 

Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak Movie Book #1

After watching this movie with my daughter last night, I have to say that we were both very disappointed.  The book is so magical and honestly, one of my childhood favorites.  However, the movie just did not compare at all!  The story is colorful, mischevious, and the pictures really bring the book to life.  I can definitily see why it received a Caldecott Award.  On the other hand, the movie had a sense of sadness throughout its entireity, and it was quite boring.  The characters were not what I expected them to be, and it was hard to stay focused on the actual storyline because for a children's movie it was dark and depressing.  The book is much better, and story made much more of an impact on my personally.  I would still highly recommend the book for elementary school aged child to read because its all about adventure, fun, make believe, and the start of growing up.  However, I recommend that you leave the movie alone.

The Sneetches, by Dr. Seuss Diversity Book #2

     I love this story, and for younger readers it is a must in any elementary school's library!  The Sneetches is an excellent example of important it is to be yourself, yet embrace others differences.  Dr. Seuss has a nitch for teaching wonderful moral lessons with humor, and this book is not any different.  The Sneetches characters learn after losing all of their money, that the "best" sneetch is any sneetch, and it doesn't matter whether or not they have a star on their belly or not.  To me, this is teaching kids at a very impressionable age that just because someone is different than you, does not mean they are less of a person.  For students to learn this at a very young age is vital!  I see so many kids everyday get bullied, made fun of, or picked on because they are different, and I truly believe that if they learn this lesson at an early age, and it is "beat" into their brains it will make a difference, and stop the intolerance.  I think also it is important that Seuss uses humor.  I believe that older children respond and make connections to books that are realistic to their lives, however, I think that younger students respond and learn better from humor.  This book's story is timeless.  It is so important that today's youth learn the lesson of tolerance because without it, our world they will struggle as they grow older.